Shawn Lankton Online » Recipe

Tasty Tofu Spread

Shawn Lankton — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 01:46:16 +0000

A tasty spread is great to have on hand. I use it on sandwiches and wraps or as a dip for veggies and chips. It has a great creamy consistency, but its all vegan and low fat! This is my favorite way to use tofu. Here is a picture of the spread in action on a tasty wrap (instructions for the wrap are included!).

I show one version of this spread, but it’s very versatile and can seasoned any way you like. Read on for the full recipe!

Ingredients

8oz extra-firm tofu
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 handful of fresh cilantro leaves
2 Tbsp. spicy mustard
2 tsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. white vinegar
pinch of salt
pinch of red pepper
pinch of black pepper

Directions
This recipe uses a food processor (maybe a blender would work). Combine the ingredients in this order: First, add the tofu, oil, and mustard. Pulse these together until you achieve a smooth consistency. Then add the cilantro and process until the leaves are broken up.

Next, add the liquids and sprinkle the spices onto the top of the liquids. This will help the spices mix evenly into the spread. Finish by processing until the whole thing is very smooth and well-blended. Finsihed! This makes about 1.5 cups.

As I said, this recipe can be re-made in an uncountable number of ways. Experiment with different spices and spice-combinations. I’ve made sesame-ginger spread, southwest spread, tomato-basil spread… you name it! It’s really hard to mess up!

Bonus! Tasty Sandwich

To make the wrap shown above, I lightly fried a whole-wheat tortilla in a small skillet with some Pam. Next, I spread on a good bit of our new creation and added warm chick peas, and cool, sliced roma tomatoes. Finally, I garnished it with a bit of left-over cilantro… yum.

Wasabi-Tofu-Zucchini Salad with Gin Dressing

Shawn Lankton — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 02:51:10 +0000

This salad that combines flavors that you might not expect to see together. All together it is light and refreshing while at the same time being hearty and filling! It has lots of parts to it, but the whole thing can be put together very quickly.

Follow the link for the full recipe!

I’ll lay this out in 4 mini-recipes since this is my most complex dish to date!

Wasabi Marinade:

Ingredients

2 tsp wasabi powder
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp white vinegar
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp ginger powder
1/4c grapefruit juice

Directions
Easy! Simply stir these all together in a small bowl or dish.

Tasty Tofu Blocks:

Ingredients

8oz of Extra-Firm Tofu
1/2c of vegetable oil

Directions
Now, this is the important part! I just learned a great trick that has gotten me eating tofu again! Right when you get the it from the store drain the water from the container and freeze the tofu. Then, once its frozen move it to the fridge and let it thaw back out. The process of freezing and re-thawing changes the texture and makes it much more delicious and easier to work with!

Once you’ve gotten your thawed tofu out of the fridge, wrap it in a paper towel and squeeze it firmly. Lots of water should come out. Now, cube it on the cutting board and drop it in the marinade (above). Let it sit for a few minutes and let it soak up most of the juice… yum wasabi!

Next, heat the oil in about a 10″ skillet. Drop the tofu in and allow it to fry for a few minutes on each side until you get a nice golden brown color and crispy texture. Try to only turn the tofu once as that helps it be crispier once finished. Once it is brown on both sides drain it on a paper towel. Pour out most of the oil, but leave a little in the skillet for the veggies!

Hot Peppered Zucchs!

Ingredients:

2 large zucchini, halved, sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Directions:
With just a little bit of the oil leftover from the tofu, stir-fry the zucchini, bell peppers, and spices over medium heat until the zucchs start to soften. Drain these onto a paper towel when they’re finished as well.

Putting together the Salad

Ingredients:

1 head Romaine lettuce, chopped
2 roma tomatoes, diced

Directions
Mix the chilled greens and tomatoes with the fried tofu and zucchini. Give it a light toss! You can dig in at this point or top it off with the gin dressing.

Gin Dressing

Ingredients:

1 tsp spicy mustard
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp Gin (Tanqueray)

Directions
Simply whisk these together! I prefer a lightly-dressed salad. You could increase the proportions if you want to taste the dressing more. I find that the gin gives the dressing a very bright flavor.

Enjoy!

Roasted Rosemary Veggies

Shawn Lankton — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 06:22:53 +0000

I’m just discovering roasting as a means to cook vegetables. Its a very hands-off method that results in a nice flavor. This dish feels very autumn-y to me, but I’ve been enjoying throughout the winter. This particular time I made an especially wild addition… purple cauliflower!

Ingredients

1 head cauliflower (purple if desired)
1 head broccoli
1 small squash
1 head garlic
1 medium onion
1/4c pine Nuts
1/8c olive oil
1tsp. red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450
Chop the cauliflower, broccoli, and peeled squash into chunks. I like the chunks to be just-larger-than-bite-size.
Toast the pine nuts in a skillet over medium heat watching carefully not to burn them
Break apart the head of garlic, but do not peel the cloves. Keep them in their skin
Combine the veggies, nuts, garlic, and spices into a large bowl. Drizzle on the olive oil and toss to coat everything.
Pour into a glass dish and roast for 20 minutes
Take out, stir, and bake for another 20 minutes

Pull out and enjoy!

I serve this as a main course, but it would make a nice side dish as well. (By the way, the garlic still in its skin is delicious by itself. Pick one of the clove sup and squeeze it until the delicious roasted innards come out. Yum.

Baked Beets with Curry Sauce

Shawn Lankton — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 03:27:10 +0000

I have been a big beet fan for some time now, and I enjoy turning others on to the magic of beets. (For more on this, read “Jitterbug Perfume“). I usually stir-fry beets and it turns out nice, but I recently heard of baking them. This sounded like a great low-hassle way of preparing these voluptuous, vibrant roots.

Sure enough, this turned out to be easy and delicious! This is far and away my new favorite beet recipe, and will be a good introductory dish to convert non-beet-eaters. Give it a try (and look below for baking instructions). As usual, this is 100% vegan and tasty-tasty-tasty. Happy pink pooping!

Ingredients

3 large beets
1/4 c soy milk
1/8 c vegetable oil
1/3 of 1 banana
2 Tbsp Curry Powder
1 Tbsp Powdered Ginger
1 tsp honey

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450. Meanwhile, wash off the beets, and remove the stems, but leave the tough skin on. (By the way, the stems are edible, healthy, and delicious… but they don’t make an appearance in this recipe.) Wrap the beets in tin foil, and put them in a dish. Line the dish with foil too, because the beets will leak when baked, and you don’t want a mess in your oven. Once the beets are wrapped, put them in the oven and bake them for about 2 hours.

After the two hours, take the beets out and let them cool. (I let mine cool overnight in the fridge.) Then, unwrap them and cut off the top and bottom. In the sink you’ll be delighted at how easily the tough skins now come right off in your hands, leaving nice, plump, peeled beets! Slice the beets into quarter inch slices and place them on a plate (decoratively, of course!)

Now, on to the sauce. This is simple. Combine all the other ingredients. It’s best if you can blend, whip, or whisk them together so that the banana gets smashed, and the oil and spices get well mixed. Now, Pour the sauce over the beets and serve! You’ll love this… I promise!

5 Minute Cranberry Sauce

Shawn Lankton — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 17:08:38 +0000

Even though I try to eat vegan most of the time, I just can’t help but eat turkey on Thanksgiving… and the next day. But, although we had turkey leftovers, we didn’t have any cranberry sauce leftovers when I went to make my mom’s famous turkey and cranberry sauce sandwiches. So, I whipped this stuff up in 5 minutes and it was as good as if you made it on the stove for hours and hours… here’s what I did:

5 Minute Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients

6 oz (1/2 bag) Cranberries
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
a dash of ground cloves
1/4 cup orange juice

Directions

Combine the ingredients in a microwave safe bowl, and stir up so that the sugar and spices are evenly mixed. Then, nuke the combination for 3 minutes (MAKE SURE TO COVER!!). If you don’t cover this up, the cranberries will pop and you’ll have little red specs all over your microwave. After the first 3 minutes, squash some of the cranberries with a fork and generally stir the stuff up. Then, nuke it for another 2 minutes. Pull it out, and voila! Cranberry sauce ready for sandwiches. I actually stuck mine in the freezer for another few minutes so it would cool down enough, but you get the idea.

Ginger-Garlic-Walnut-Soy Veggies

Shawn Lankton — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:43:49 +0000

This is one of three recipes that I made this Thanksgiving weekend… Expect “5 minute Cranberry Sauce” and “Hummaganoushus” soon. This particular recipe, though, is a good one that I actually made up last Thanksgiving. This is a great general-purpose sauce that is full of flavor and will add zing to anything you put it on. I of course usually put it on veggies : )

Ginger-Garlic-Walnut-Soy Veggies

Ingredients

1/8 cup soy sauce
1/2 head of garlic (about 6 cloves, peeled)
2″piece of whole ginger root (peeled), OR 1 Tbsp of powdered ginger
1/8 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. red pepper powder
1/2 tsp. lemon grass
Soy milk or water as needed
Lots of great, cooked veggies!

Directions

This part is really simple if you have a food processor or blender… Process that stuff! Just blend everything but the water and veggies up until they are smooth. You can add water or soy milk as needed to get the right consistency. I like the sauce to be a little runnier than a milk shake. Once its all blended pour it over the veggies and toss them around so they get coated. Enjoy!

I made this to put on broccoli and collard greens. I threw a couple of un-blended chopped walnuts into this mix, and cooked the veggies with some mashed garlic. The end result was amazing. The ginger and red pepper will really wake your mouth up while the salty-garlic flavor calms down the flavor and makes you feel… like you’re at Thanksgiving dinner!

Cran-Apple Sauce

Shawn Lankton — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 02:06:22 +0000

My buddy Naomi suggested that I make some apple sauce when she visited from NYC two weeks ago. Actually, she insisted and we bought a bunch of ingredients at Your Dekalb Farmers’ Market. So, here I sat weeks later, lots of apples, cranberries, and cinnamon in my house and no recipe. So, I got on the internets and came up with this. (based on this one from epicurious)

Cran-Apple Sauce

Ingredients

5 apples (any kind, I used 3 red delicious and 2 gala)
6oz. whole cranberries
2 whole cinnamon sticks (3″ long)
1 tsp. powdered orange peel (could substitute some OJ)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. lemon juice
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Directions

Peel and core the apples and cut them into bite-size bits. Put these into a large pot with all other ingredients. Stir the mixture somewhat until all the sugar/spices/juices are mixed up. Then bring the whole thing to a simmer. Allow it to cook covered for 15 minutes, then uncovered for another 5. Remove it from heat and take out the cinnamon sticks. After that, get after the sauce with a wooden spoon until the apples are as mashed as you like. (I prefer it chunky, so I pretty much left it alone. You could use a fork/beater/blender if you wanted it smoother) Then, let it cool and enjoy!

This was super easy to make and tastes really good. Give it a try, and let me know what you think. (You know, I wanted to call this post “Vegan Cran-Apple Sauce,” but… lets be honest. Who puts meat in apple sauce?!)

Elixir of Health

Shawn Lankton — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 15:10:21 +0000

I woke up this morning with a tickle in my throat. “Ah Ha!” I immediately exclaimed! I know just what to do. My cure for the common cold is a three pronged attack:

Only eat things that are green or orange.
Drink tea constantly
Cover your neck

The elixir in this post goes along with #1. This sounds weird at first, but it actually tastes really good and is amazing for you.

Elixir of Health

Ingredients

16 oz bag of spinach
1/2 cup of grapefruit juice
1/2 cup of mango chunks (I use frozen)
2 ripe bananas
1/4 cup chopped carrots
1 scoop of protein powder (optional)
Water as needed

Directions
Put the grapefruit juice and some water in the blender. Then add protein powder if desired. Then add the spinach slowly with water as needed so that it all gets blended. (CAUTION: No matter how much you want to, don’t stick your finger into the blender when its on to push the spinach down). Once the spinach is blended, add the fruit and carrots. Add water until you get the consistency you want. I like mine liquid, but a little bit thick (like a spinach-shake). Too watery and you won’t be happy. Then, pour into a glass and enjoy with some fresh oranges. Say goodbye to sickness.

This makes several cups worth… drink all of them! Or, if you have sick friends… share.

Corn Bread and Banana Nut Bread

Shawn Lankton — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 03:26:57 +0000

Corn bread and banana-nut bread are two of life’s little wonders. They are extremely delicious, and mostly healthy. These two have always been favorites of mine, and since I’ve switched up my eating habits I cook them quite often. In the last week, I made both of these delicacies, and wanted to share my recipes. I base these loosely off of the ones found on theppk.com.

Vegan Banana-Nut Bread

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon five spice powder (cinnamon, anise, 3 other spices…)
1/4 canola oil
4 very ripe bananas, mashed well
1/4 cup vanilla soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 cup chopped wall nuts

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Combine dry stuff in one bowl and wet stuff in another; mix each well. Pour wet stuff into dry stuff; mix well together. Pour in walnuts; mix well. Pour the whole mixture into either a casserole dish as above or a loaf pan (9″x4″). Cook at 350 for about 60 minutes (longer for the loaf pan). source

Vegan Cornbread

Ingredients

2 cups whole grain cornmeal (from whole foods)
1 cup whole grain flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup canola oil
2 cups soymilk
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 cup whole kernel sweet corn (unsalted)
1/2 cup chopped red bell peppers
1/2 cup chopped jalapeÃ±o peppers

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 350. Combine dry stuff in one bowl and wet stuff in another; mix each well. Pour wet stuff into dry stuff; mix together well. Pour in corn and chopped peppers; mix well. Pour the whole mixture into a baking dish. You can use whatever you like, but I like casserole dishes so that the cornbread comes out in a big 1″ thick sheet that you can cut up into little squares. Cook at 350 until a fork comes out clean (about 30-35 minutes). source

Thai Curry Sauce

Shawn Lankton — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 15:49:00 +0000

This is an incredible sauce, and one of my first recorded recipies. Usually I just cook without regard to ingredient lists, measuring cups, etc. However, enough people asked me how to make this gem that I finally paid attention when I made it so I could pass the secrets on to all of you! This is simple, tasty, and sure to please.

Ingredients

1 Can coconut milk
juice from 1 medium orange (about 1/4 cup)
2 Tbsp. peanut butter
2 Tbsp. basil
2 Tbsp. fish sauce
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. turmeric
1 Tbsp. ground ginger
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. crushed red pepper (if you like it spicy)
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

Directions:
Heat coconut milk in a medium saucepan. Once its warm, begin adding ingredients (in no particular order). Keep this in mind: red pepper powder & flakes make it spicy, sugar and juice make it sweet, and fish sauce makes it salty. The amounts of the spices listed aren’t fixed, so play with them until you get just the flavor you want!

This is *just* a sauce, and you have to make something else to put the sauce on. I recommend stir-frying some onions, green peppers, Chinese eggplant (the long skinny ones), and some bean sprouts. Throw a few more peanuts in there too. Yum.